Internet Safety Education now a requirement for erate funding
From eSchool News, November 2008: "Schools receiving federal e-Rate discounts on their internet access soon will have to educate their students about online safety, sexual predators, and cyberbullying, thanks to a new law signed by President Bush Oct. 10."
Go to Netsmartz.org to download presentations and presenters' notes for elementary, teens and parents/community.
eSchool News: Technology News for Today's K-20 Educator.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=56032 Obama's high-tech win holds lessons for ed: His campaign's unprecedented use of technology shows schools and colleges how to inspire communities and mobilize support. Read more at eSchool News: Technology News for Today's K-20 Educator.
Cell Phone Novels More than 1 million cell phone novels have been published in Japan and those reading the novels are not reading the "print" version, they are reading the novels on their cell phones! Some of the most popular novels are uploaded to an online site and actually publised in print book form. Of the 10 best-selling novels in Japan last year, 5 were cell phone novels and were written in the "short hand" of text messaging. In contrast, most districts in the United States ban cell phones or severely limit their use in schools. Signs at the front door of some schools read "Students: Turn off your cell phone before entering the building." Cell phones are palm sized computers - perhaps it's time to rethink their use in our schools?
To read more about cell phone novels: from the New York Times (Asia Pacific) Thumbs Race as Japan's Best Sellers go Cellular or The Millions Blog post dated 1/31/2008.
Office 2007 has a brand new user interface. Instead of drop-down menus, you will find a ribbon with tabs. The tabs are arranged across the top of the screen and show all options available pertaining to what is on that tab. When you hover over an option, your document will reflect what it would look like if you actually chose that option. Tabs are arranged with most commonly used options listed on the left and lesser used on the right.Instead of a File menu (for saving, printing, etc.), there is now a "button" - a round Office logo - that you click on to find all the old file options.SmartArt is one of the new features, there are many choices of templates to choose from, and Calibri is the new default font. The new documents are not compatible with older versions of Office, but you can easily Save As... a 2000 or 2003 document. You'll notice the new files have an "x" after them, for example .docx because of the XML-based format of Office 2007. Once you get used to the new interface, you will probably like this updated version of Office. However, if you get frustrated and wonder "Where did my buttons go?", simply go to Microsoft's flash tutor of the same name and find them! Word Powerpoint Excel Alternatives to Office 2007: OpenOffice 2.2 - free download StarOffice 8.0 - $69.95 retail download Google Docs and Spreadsheets - free and online ZohoWriter, Sheet, Show, Meeting, Notebook, DB & Reports, Planner, Projects, Creator, Wiki, Chat, MailWriter, Sheet, Show, Meeting, Notebook, DB & Reports, Planner, Projects, Creator, Wiki, Chat, Mail - free and online ThinkFree - free and online online
Internet Safety Education now a requirement for erate funding
From eSchool News, November 2008: "Schools receiving federal e-Rate discounts on their internet access soon will have to educate their students about online safety, sexual predators, and cyberbullying, thanks to a new law signed by President Bush Oct. 10."Go to Netsmartz.org to download presentations and presenters' notes for elementary, teens and parents/community.
eSchool News: Technology News for Today's K-20 Educator.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=56032Obama's high-tech win holds lessons for ed: His campaign's unprecedented use of technology shows schools and colleges how to inspire communities and mobilize support. Read more at eSchool News: Technology News for Today's K-20 Educator.
Cell Phone Novels
More than 1 million cell phone novels have been published in Japan and those reading the novels are not reading the "print" version, they are reading the novels on their cell phones! Some of the most popular novels are uploaded to an online site and actually publised in print book form. Of the 10 best-selling novels in Japan last year, 5 were cell phone novels and were written in the "short hand" of text messaging. In contrast, most districts in the United States ban cell phones or severely limit their use in schools. Signs at the front door of some schools read "Students: Turn off your cell phone before entering the building." Cell phones are palm sized computers - perhaps it's time to rethink their use in our schools?
To read more about cell phone novels: from the New York Times (Asia Pacific) Thumbs Race as Japan's Best Sellers go Cellular or The Millions Blog post dated 1/31/2008.
Office 2007 has a brand new user interface. Instead of drop-down menus, you will find a ribbon with tabs. The tabs are arranged across the top of the screen and show all options available pertaining to what is on that tab. When you hover over an option, your document will reflect what it would look like if you actually chose that option. Tabs are arranged with most commonly used options listed on the left and lesser used on the right.Instead of a File menu (for saving, printing, etc.), there is now a "button" - a round Office logo - that you click on to find all the old file options.SmartArt is one of the new features, there are many choices of templates to choose from, and Calibri is the new default font. The new documents are not compatible with older versions of Office, but you can easily Save As... a 2000 or 2003 document. You'll notice the new files have an "x" after them, for example .docx because of the XML-based format of Office 2007. Once you get used to the new interface, you will probably like this updated version of Office. However, if you get frustrated and wonder "Where did my buttons go?", simply go to Microsoft's flash tutor of the same name and find them!
Word
Powerpoint
Excel
Alternatives to Office 2007:
OpenOffice 2.2 - free download
StarOffice 8.0 - $69.95 retail download
Google Docs and Spreadsheets - free and online
Zoho Writer, Sheet, Show, Meeting, Notebook, DB & Reports, Planner, Projects, Creator, Wiki, Chat, MailWriter, Sheet, Show, Meeting, Notebook, DB & Reports, Planner, Projects, Creator, Wiki, Chat, Mail - free and online
ThinkFree - free and online online